Rock and Roll San Antonio 26.2 16-11-08 3:34:42 Pt 1

Man, what a weekend. Rollercoaster ride of emotions. Only a runner could understand what my head was like this weekend- fearful, excited, nervous, sad, thrilled, flat, etc. I hit every emotion and a couple of them at the same time.

So in February, after having completed Myrtle Beach in a dismal 4hrs 08 mins, I knew I had to get faster, better. I so wanted to sub 4 in that marathon and the feeling of failure after coming across the line was horrible. I did NOT want to experience that at San Antonio, especially with Jennifer there:) I got with Jennifer and she suggested I use the Pfitz 18/55 plan. I was a bit wigged at the idea of pullin 50+ mile weeks but how else would I get faster? I managed to peak at 61 and felt really good on the downhill slide. I started watching my times closely and thought, not only could I sub 4 this time but hell, I might just BQ. Jennifer pointed that out to me and that's when the bug took hold. I *had* to BQ. Pressure on.

So, I ran my ass off for 16 weeks, spent the last 2 wondering if I ran enough, if I ate properly, why after putting in all those miles was I still feeling things giggle when I ran!!, dodging injuries, putting in extra runs to get rid of stress, etc. I look back over my blog, re-reading some of the posts and remember how anxious I was about times. Once you get into training mode with a time goal, it's very hard to do those LSRs slowly. You start looking at those LSRs as indicators on how you'll pull off the full- not such a good idea. So, 900+ miles and 5 pair of shoes later....Friday the 14th rolled around a LOT faster than I had anticipated.
The following posts will give you a pretty good idea as to what I did leading up to and including the race:)

Part One, Friday and Saturday

Dave came over to give me a ride to the airport at 4 am. We were a bit early so we stopped at Waffle House to get some coffee, toast and hasbrowns. Lemme tell ya, I love to go to Waffle House and people watch. I've never been there at o-dark-thirty. I have to say the people who frequent WH at that hour are very interesting.

Anywa, off to the airport to catch my flight and we snapped a couple pics. I look like hell because I didn't get any sleep the night before. I guess I was a bit nervous. Of course, Dave looks like he's ready to take on the world.

Seeing as I hadn't haven't flown since security has been jacked up so high, I wasn't really prepared for the pure crap they put you through. Shoes off, jacket off, laptop out, iPod down. It'd be easier to just strip naked and walk through the security check points. Once I get schooled in 'How Annoying the TSA Can Make Flying', I get on the plane and look out to see this.. blech! We got up above the clouds and that's when I was floored. What a beautiful sight! How peaceful..My nervousness faded a bit after watching these fluffy, calming clouds for 2.5 hours on my way to Houston. The flight to Houston was uneventful but a bit snug. I think I was quite possibly on one of the smallest planes available. I caught my connecting flight to San Antonio and arrived at 11am central time. I had the joy of trying to find my way to a hotel I had never heard of. I also had the excitement of trying to get a taxi and NOT get ripped off. This trip was full of firsts. I've never been in a taxi before and was really disappointed when this pulled up.. Ahh well. A minivan. I guess they need those bigger vehicles for when people bring half their house on vacation with them. $26 bucks and 8 miles later, I reach the hotel... Very nice!!! Jennifer hadn't arrived yet so I checked in and got settled. The room was gorgeous! I got unpacked and decided I was hungry so I started walking... 2 miles of frontage road later, I wound up at Jason's Deli and had this wonderful Linner ( too late for lunch, to early for dinner= Linner) Yummy!!! On the trek back to the hotel, I saw this store and had to snap a pic of their work on the front window.. Yeah, baby!! Jennifer arrived around 8pm. After having a taxi driver who had NO idea what he was doing, trying to take her to the hotel via Dallas, here she is coming up the road after having been dropped off in the wrong parking lot.. Believe it or not, she's swearing in that pic. We introduced ourselves and quickly got all cozied up:) Staying up until 3 am and waking at 5 for a run, kinda makes ya look a little rough, ya think?? After a satisfying run on a treadmill (ick), we got showered and ready for the Expo!! Woohoooooo Here are some shots from the ride into downtown San Antonio- Once we made it to the Alamodome, we headed in to enjoy the Expo. This is where things kinda went wrong. They were trying to cram everyone into the Expo on ONE escalator that ...get this...wasn't working. WTF??? We finally made it downstairs and saw this.... Grabbed our numbers and posed- and did some shopping! Worn out and back in the van, we headed to the Riverwalk. Snacks at a steak house... Tried on Cowboy hats! Made out with a Red Bull cooler (?!?!?!?) We ate peanut coated caramel apples, just cuz we could:) From SanAntonio 26.2 Got back to the hotel and laid out our gear for the next day.... Pt 2, coming up!